Crossfire
by Mistflyer1102
Summary: An ambush ends quickly with Bond tasting defeat and loss when he discovers that Q disappeared during the attack after Bond had been knocked out. Seizing the first crumb available to him, Bond sets out to find Q, only finding more questions and answers that leaves Q's loyalty in doubt.
1. Chapter 1

**I**

* * *

"Stop petting me."

"Make me," Bond replied without looking away from his book, his fingers still tangled in Q's dark, thick curls. He grinned when he felt Q attempt to tug away but gave up after a moment, instead choosing to curl up against Bond. For a moment, the two of them lay there on the bed, Bond propped up with pillows as he read a paperback Q had given him for the flight to a mission—_an alternative to destroying my tech, as much as I hate to do that to a poor book_—and Q curled up against him on the duvet.

Then, without warning, Q wiggled his head and let the hair slide out from between Bond's fingers, and he let out a cry of triumph when he finally broke free. "No, no, _no!"_ he shrieked as he dove for the opposite corner of the duvet when Bond dropped the book to lunge for him. "Nope, no, nice try," he said, waggling his fingers at Bond, who feinted a lunge. Nearly slipping backwards of the bed, he grinned and said, "Come on, James, I'm tired from ordering Martin around all day. I want to go to bed, and I mean to sleep," he said, shaking his head when Bond put on an excited and hopeful expression.

"Fine, spoilsport," Bond said, grinning as he threw one of the pillows at Q, who caught it with ease. "I'll be right back, I still need to brush my teeth."

"You do that. I'll need to take what duvet I can while I still am able," Q said, sticking his tongue out when Bond put on a hurt expression. Bond moved aside to let Missy dart into the room and jump onto the bed, taking her usual spot between the two men. "Hi sweetie, don't take James's spot or he'll be grumpy in the morning," Q said, grinning as Bond put on a mock hurt expression when Q cuddled the cat.

"Five minutes to establish spots," Bond warned before heading into the bathroom to brush his teeth and prepare for bed.

He was in the middle of toweling his face off when he heard a _thump_ of Missy hitting the floor and the pattering of paws tearing from the bedroom as Q unexpectedly screamed, "_James!"_

Dropping everything, Bond ran out into the hall and into the bedroom in time to see a masked man—_easily my build_—restraining Q and covering his mouth despite the blood welling from the torn fabric of the sleeve. The duvet, sheets and pillows were in complete disarray where the man must have dragged Q off the bed and towards the open bedroom window. The man instantly crouched the second Bond lunged, but it took Bond a second to realize that Q was looking in terror…over his shoulder. _There's another one._

He ducked right as the second assailant struck from behind, knife blade flashing in the room light as Bond lashed out with a kick to the man's solar plexus. The man easily sidestepped the kick and tossed the knife to the other man in time to block a punch to the face. Bond growled through his teeth and focused his attention on the man's neck, barely visible through the cloth. A nearly successful kick forced Bond to split his attention between the attacker's feet and fists, and began feinting punches—_don't hold back_—towards the man's flanks, forcing the man to defend his sides.

Then Bond lunged for the neck the moment the guard accidentally left his guard wide open.

There was a loud _clunk_ as the attacker's head connected with the wall behind him, and Bond growled as the two of them fell, his fingers digging into the soft skin of the man's neck. He dimly heard another _thwack _behind him, and turned in time to see Q crumple to the ground, the first man approaching Bond with the knife.

Bond made the mistake of loosening his grip on the second man's neck to deal with the knife coming for his back. There was a sharp _crack_ when the second attacker's head snapped up at the same time the first one struck, and Bond's world flooded in darkness.

When he woke up, some indeterminable hours later, he was in Medical and Q was gone. He closed his eyes, unwilling to listen to Eve as she tried to speak to him, to tell him that unknown assailants had taken Q last night, and Bond was MI6's only lead to finding him. The assailants, he knew, had expected him to die. They would have not left him lying alive on the floor of his own bedroom if they suspected otherwise.

_I should have acted faster._


	2. Chapter 2

**II**

* * *

"Is there anything else you can remember?"

"No, the last thing I saw before losing consciousness was the attacker coming at me with a knife. They both had brown eyes, height was hard to determine because they both remained crouched," Bond said, eyes closed as he leaned back on the couch in Q's office, ice pack balanced on the back of his head and Missy delicately perched on him, her gentle purrs reverberating through her body against his chest.

M sighed as R continued trying to locate Q's embedded tracker. "Clearly they were expecting resistance of some kind, which indicates that the two of you were under observation for some time, especially since his flat was located," he said, glancing at R. "Which could also mean that we may need to start looking for him through other means."

"Why wait until James was home? If they were observing him long enough, they would have known that James periodically leaves London," Eve pointed out, glancing between M and Bond.

"It could be they were on a timetable," Bond said, wincing when he felt Missy's claws flex as she began to knead his chest. "Missy, you've got the wrong human," he said, trying not to wrinkle his nose in annoyance as she dug her claws into his shirt. He grimaced when he saw a rusty-brown color underneath her claws. "I can see why Q's mother named you 'Missy', seeing that you've gotten yourself into something nasty _again,_" he grumbled, reaching for her scruff to try pulling her off him.

Eve grinned. "So she could say, 'What did you do this time, missy?'" she guessed as Missy hissed at Bond, who wisely let her continue kneading his chest uninterrupted.

"Probably. If I'm lucky, there's probably a dead mouse somewhere in the flat that can still be identified by the remains as such," Bond said, catching one of the paws near him and gently massaging the claws out. "If not, I feel sorry for the poor sod that got caught," he said, examining the dried blood.

"Didn't you say that one of the men was bleeding?" R asked, suddenly looking up from his computer screen.

Bond looked at Missy, who tugged her paw free before resting her chin on his shoulder. "You want to take her down to forensics for DNA analysis?" he asked, spreading his hands to give R unfettered access.

R turned slightly pale, but Eve sighed impatiently before reaching for the calico. "I'll take her down, she knows me," she said, gently picking up Missy around the middle despite the low growling. Bond winced when his shirt went with Missy's claws, Eve tugging a bit before there were a few tiny _pops_ and numerous holes appeared in the fabric. Eve cooed and cradled Missy against her shoulder. "It's okay, girl, we're going to meet someone who isn't the vet," she soothed as she carried Missy out of the office, the cat's growling barely audible before the door shut behind her.

"Since you still remembered what time they took Q, we're hopefully not too far behind the kidnappers. Q's only been gone for ten hours, you were out for eight," M said, glancing at R, who had gone back to his screens. "Did they make any demands before leaving?"

"No, just knocked Q out before they knocked me out. No idea of what they wanted," Bond said, tilting his head to catch the ice pack and set it aside. "There's no telling what they want until they make demands, if at all."

"All double-ohs still on home soil have been notified, and I might send one or two with you once we know where to start looking," M said, as he pulled out his phone to pull up the roster of inactive agents. "Double-ohs six and nine are available, if you are interested."

"I need a place to start first," Bond said as his mobile began ringing. "Excuse me,," he said, reaching for the phone and only frowning briefly at the unfamiliar number. "Bond," he said as he pressed the 'Talk' button.

"_James?_"

Ice shot through his veins at Q's soft, panicked voice. "Q? Q, where are you?" he demanded quietly, standing and catching R's attention. "Q, are you all right?" he asked, pulling the phone away long enough to switch to speakerphone. "_Q?_"

"_Shhh, I'm fine, just sore, tired and with a fucking headache," _Q whispered, voice shaking slightly as Bond heard squeaking on his end. "_I have no idea where I am, none of us do—there's five of us total_." Bond heard a sharp yet faint female voice on the other end, and then Q murmured, "_Sorry, I just fucking woke up…James? Apparently I'm in Virginia, one of my cellmates said she was bound and gagged, but never knocked out. She lives in Virginia, and was in the car boot for about twenty minutes._"

"That's a bit exact," Bond said, gesturing for R to pull up Virginia and attempt to locate the signal and trace it back to the source.

"_Well, this is her mobile I'm using, our captors were too afraid to frisk her and she'd checked her kitchen clock seconds before they ambushed her. James, they're CIA, the two men, they're CIA I don't know what the fuck they want but they went as far as to kidnap one—no, three of their own, the fourth person is from Liverpool and was apparently kidnapped the night before me," _Q whispered quickly as M leaned forward and began taking down notes.

"Q, what do they want?" Bond asked, trying to keep his voice level.

"_I don't know, they didn't tell us. The mobile owner, she's an ex-administrator from some department in the CIA, she thinks she knows what they want us for, but won't say in case she's wrong," _Q whispered, his voice breaking when there was another female voice in the background. "_James…James they're coming back."_

"Q, don't tell them anything," Bond said firmly. "We're coming to get you, all right? Don't tell them a damn thing."

"_I won't…I'm sorry—I love you!"_ Q whispered before there was more shuffling and a _beep_ to indicate the broken connection.

Bond hung up and tossed his mobile back to R. "First, get three tickets to Washington DC as soon as you can. Then identify the owner of the number, and give me an address," he said before turning to M. "I'm going to call Felix on this one, see if he can start a discreet investigation through the CIA until I get to the States."

"That depends, can you trust him since apparently Q's captors are from the CIA?" M asked as Bond left the office.

"Sir, he had a chance to sell me out in Bolivia to Dominic Greene. He didn't while his superior did. I trust him," Bond said before leaving the office, heading straight for the parking garage. He'd borrow the security guard's mobile to call Tess and Alec, warn them, before preparing for travel.

Time wasn't on his side.


	3. Chapter 3

**III**

* * *

"What's the name?"

Bond leaned back and took his mobile back from where Tess had been using to configure hers so that she could pick up Q's distress signal once it was activated. Felix Leiter, who had been there to greet them at Washington Dulles Airport, turned his attention back to the road as Bond scrolled through the emails for the one from R about the mystery number's owner. "The name is Pamela Landy. Riley, the tech working with us, said that the number and name was surprisingly difficult to track down," he said, glancing at Felix, who nodded. "Apparently she resigned from the CIA in 2012, and Q said that she was taken twenty minutes from her home by car, so we also ran a scan of how far a car could get in that time and distance."

"Landy is a recluse, usually has one or two operatives at her disposal for her safety. It was part of the bargain made at the time of her resignation, she still has a lingering threat or two against her safety," Felix said, taking the highway exit that would lead to Landy's home. "She always insists that Ann Roxwell, our current Deputy Director, is the one who selects her bodyguards, she doesn't trust the director at all."

"How long do those bodyguards stay before they're switched out?" Alec asked, leaning forward to stick his head between the two front seats.

"About six months, I served for three when one of them fell too ill to carry out his duties in early 2013. She never spoke much to us and kept to herself, she evidently believed that we'd report back to the director eventually," Felix said, frowning when he made a right onto what Bond first assumed was a residential street, but saw the commotion up ahead as police blocked off the other end of the street, where there were small stores instead of homes. "Shit, hang on, let me turn around," Felix muttered as he immediately pulled into a driveway in order to turn around.

Bond glanced out Felix's window as he saw three ambulances pull up, paramedics moving as soon as the vehicles had stopped. A police officer knelt and picked up what looked like a mobile from the sidewalk and slipped it into the evidence bag. He passed an empty evidence bag to another officer, who held what looked suspiciously like black glasses frames in two gloved fingers.

_No, wait. I recognize those._

"Wait, Felix, stop the car. There's something at the scene, a piece of evidence I need to see," Bond said, glancing at Felix, who frowned but parked the car in front of someone's house anyway. "Tess, do you have the FBI badge that Riley gave you?" he asked, barely remembering not to call him 'R' at the last moment.

"Yes, but I think Felix should do the speaking, he's actually an American," Tess said, glancing hopefully at Felix, who nodded.

"Only catch is that I may not pull as much weight since I'm CIA," he said, pocketing the keys before getting out of the car as well.

Tess sighed. "Then _you_ pretend to be FBI," she said, tossing the forged badge to Felix. "Just don't let them get a good look at it."

Alec stopped Bond right as Bond shut his own door. "What did you see?" he whispered.

"Glasses that looked like Q's. I hope I'm wrong," Bond muttered before the four of them headed towards where police had finished stringing yellow caution tape between traffic cones to block the entire section off. Bond walked just behind Felix, watching as the police officers finally noticed them approaching, one moving to intercept Felix as the others continued collecting bits of evidence off the street and lawn of the only store that had a smashed front window along with burn marks on the concrete surface. As though gunfire had scored the front.

_Please let Q be safe._

"FBI," Felix said, showing his badge before the other man could object. "These three are with me. I wanted to see one of the evidence bags in addition to a full account of what happened here," he said, gesturing to the three agents even as Bond stepped closer to the officer who held the plastic bag with the achingly familiar frames.

"Not much to report except that this is an active crime scene. Three victims, seven attackers, and five hostages," the officer said as Alec glanced over the storefront. "The deaths were all by bullets, there was a bit of what we suspect was resistance near the alleged hostages. Residents report seeing nothing suspicious during the days leading up to the shootout last night. One definitely left with potential hostages, the other disappeared as soon as the first responders arrived."

"How did you know the number of hostages?" Tess asked, glancing at the officer.

"We found a printed list in the trash bin near an old computer. Two men and three women, all were wanted for questioning, we suspect that the three dead are either FBI or CIA, and someone got unhappy," the officer said, raising an eyebrow as he turned to Felix, who frowned. "We ran checks on all five individuals. The men are British citizens, one of the women was former CIA, and the other two women are fugitives, wanted alive."

"Well, it's a FBI matter now, so I would like to see this list of names as well as the identities of the three dead," Felix said, raising an eyebrow when the officer hesitated.

"I suggest giving the list to him, MI6 tends to be less tolerant with disobedience when British citizens are under threat," Bond said, narrowing his eyes slightly when the officer opened his mouth to protest. "And let me see the evidence bag with the glasses."

The officer nodded, glaring at Bond for a moment before signaling one of his own. She came over with the bag and a spare pair of gloves, offering the latter to Bond first. Slipping the gloves on, Bond raised the bag to get a better look at the frames, looking for the small initials that he knew Q had scratched into the left arm.

_ABW_

"He was here, these are his," Bond said, handing the bag over to Tess.

"Sir, that's evidence, you can't remove it from a crime scene—"

"Actually, if it's all right, the FBI will handle this one from here," Felix said grimly. "Expect a call soon from my superior officer. In the meantime, _keep this scene secure._"

The officer nodded. "Yes, sir."

Bond silently watched as the paramedics came out with the first stretcher. Only three men, but no hostages.

_Who else would have an invested interest in the other hostages?_

"We'll have to run background checks on the other three individuals before doing anything," Tess said. "Find the connection that all five have, we know they're all not hackers."

"Worse yet, I don't know if Q has the mobile anymore," Bond said, jaw flexing as he spotted the mobile in a nearby bag. "He's alive, if they haven't found the hostages, but the question is who wants him now, and why."

"Better yet, I want to know who started the clusterfuck that originally started the whole mess," Felix said, glancing back at the car. He turned to Bond and said, "I can try to get in touch with a friend who might be able to do more in-depth analysis that doesn't involve most of the red tape we might run into if we do it legally."

"I think this ceased to be legal a long time ago," Bond replied as they headed back to the car, trying to fight against the crushing disappointment and anxiety in his gut.

He took the glasses with him.


	4. Chapter 4

List of hostages in hand, Felix navigated through Richmond towards the city outskirts.

Bond kept the glasses tucked away in his pocket, a surprisingly comforting weight against his thigh as he stared out the window, taking note of the small yellow house at the end of the street. Two men were already outside on the lawn with roof shingles spread out on the grass around the two of them when Felix pulled into the driveway, visibly bickering as they picked up shingles to place back into a box that sat nearby. A woman wearing sunglasses and smoking a cigarette was lying down on top of a finished section of roof, an empty box sitting next to her. She twisted around to face the car as Felix shut the engine off.

"Let me do the talking, and don't fall for the bait; the men are brothers and the woman is married to the older one. They like baiting visitors and spare no one," Felix warned before getting out, Bond close behind. Alec raised an eyebrow as the woman stood up and waved, but didn't comment as the two men stopped arguing to face the newcomers. Tess merely drifted to Bond's side as the other came around the car. Felix however walked towards the stone path and shouted, "Maggie! Long time no see!"

"Hi to you too!" one of the men shouted, waving back when Felix waved.

"Too long, if you ask me," Maggie said as she climbed down a ladder to the ground. "But your timing, as ever, is fantastic and I don't have to work on the leaky roof anymore," she said, pulling Felix into a hug. "Who are your friends?" she asked, turning to face the others.

"Friends of mine from across the pond, they're looking for two people," Felix said, handing the list over to Maggie as she pushed her sunglasses up. Bond carefully watched her reaction as she read the names, her eyes widening as she studied each name.

"Hm…maybe we should go and discuss this, you're the third party I've had come to me with those names," she said, her words adding to the sick feeling in Bond's gut. "I turned the first two down because one, I'm still bitter about getting fired and two, I don't take work requests from sketchy guys over the Internet," she said, glancing over her shoulder as they walked in. "Can I get you guys anything?"

"Who were the first two parties to ask after them?" Bond asked, ignoring the question as he took in the front hall and living room, both neat except for the occasional pet toy.

"Down to business, hm? Well, the first was the CIA, and then the next one was someone inquiring to the current location of the five, which I didn't know until the shoot-out last night, it was all over the news," she said, glancing at Felix. "Both requests happened a week apart of each other, with the second one being a week ago."

"Which means that someone could be interested in permanently silencing them," Felix said as Tess moved into the dining room as though to check it over. "Did you trace the second email back to its source?"

"Boston, but that honestly doesn't tell me anything. At the very least, there's an international airport in Boston," Maggie said as she pulled a dusty sheet off of what turned out to be a cabinet. Using the key that was on a chain around her neck, she leaned forward and unlocked the door. She pulled out an older laptop than Q used, but Bond didn't comment as she opened the lid and powered it up. "Give me a few to run the names, want me to start with the Brits first?"

"The two men, and skip Landy, we already know who she is," Bond said, hovering behind her as she pulled up a program and effortlessly entered what looked suspiciously like the CIA database. "What is it that you used to do?" he asked after a moment as he watched her work quickly.

"CIA programmer, but they fired me because I walked in on what I thought was a meeting, but it turned out to be that of the clandestine kind. Those involved didn't want me talking, so they blackmailed me out of a job," Maggie replied easily as she typed in a few commands, glancing at Alec as he stood on her other side. She glanced back at the list, and began searching for one of them. "I knew the woman at the end of the list, she was a operative and handler until she cut her ties with the CIA in 2007, disappearing completely," she said as she continued typing, voice almost too soft for Bond to hear. "She was one of the few senior operatives who was ever nice to me."

Bond leaned forward to examine the name in question—_Nicolette Parsons—_before turning his attention back to the screen. Maggie had looked Q up first, given he was the second name on the list and Bond had asked her to skip Landy. She studied a few paragraphs before turning to another few pages, and then finally settling on one. "Well, Mr. Winfield is on the CIA watchlist," she said finally, tilting the screen so Alec and Bond could see.

"What? Why do they care about him?" Alec asked, leaning forward to examine the screen better.

Maggie shrugged. "Says here he and the other man on your list committed cyber-terrorism against the United States in 2009. Stole data and threatened to sell it to the highest-paying party," she said, pushing her chair back to let the two agents through. "They've been searching for him for five years now."

_What? That can't be right_.

Bond could only stare in disbelief at the text in front of him.

* * *

**A/N: *whispers* Sorry for disappearing, I can assure you that this story will _definitely_ be finished :)**


End file.
